Skiing & Snowboarding

Home to the legendary Winter Park Resort and the intimate Ski Granby Ranch, Grand County boasts some of Colorado's best skiing. Why? Well, let's just say that since we hug the Continental Divide, we get lots and lots of snow. Come explore our amazing terrain.

Backcountry Areas

Remote and stunning, Berthoud Pass is a popular backcountry area with numerous stunning trails to enjoy. Second Creek Trail is a short trail that's great for adventurers and directs you toward Broome Hut, one of the most famous remote cabin rentals in Colorado.

Another great trail to start your backcountry touring is Jim Creek, which begins in Winter Park and ascends into the wilderness.

To get cross country skiing tips and list of favored backcountry trails, take a look at our Top Trails.

Safety

Whether you're entering the backcountry or skiing at Winter Park Resort, it's always best to have a safety plan. Make sure you wear proper clothing and safety equipment like a helmet, and thoroughly research the area you're planning to go. Be prepared for the "worst case scenario" when you're in the backcountry, because the high altitude causes your body to deplete its resources quickly. That means bringing food, water, clothing, a fire starter, shelter, first aid supplies, and navigation equipment. Your checklist should meet these minimum requirements. Smart backcountry tourists will also know the weather and avalanche conditions where they're headed. If this is all new information, consider taking a class or hiring a guide before you start your off-trail adventures.

Passes

Ski passes are available to buy directly from any resort upon arrival, but you may want to plan ahead. If you're skiing the whole season, want to visit multiple resorts, or buying for a group several sites, like ColoradoSki.com or EpicPass.com may help you find great deals.

Trail Maps

Backcountry skiers and boarders know your map is your lifeline. There are many great sites and books that can help you tour with ease.

Explore More

View our Top 10 Favorite Ski Runs to see the most popular trails for beginners, intermediates, advanced, and expert skiers, such as Lonesome Whistle, Sundance to Buckaroo, Narrow Gauge, and South Forty, respectively.

1 on 1 service. When we fit your rental boot, we take care in measuring your feet to ensure the best possible fit so that YOU can have fun at the mountain. Stop by, visit one of our three locations to see how we will make your experience the best possible one while you are visiting Winter Park.

Granby Ranch

Granby Ranch is a four-season mountain community nestled in the Rocky Mountains and located just 90 miles from Denver, Colorado, and 20 miles from Winter Park, Colorado and the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The resort and community is home to family-friendly skiing at Ski Granby Ranch, world-class downhill and cross-country mountain biking at Bike Granby Ranch, as well as Golf Granby Ranch, an 18-hole championship mountain golf course. You'll also find private, gold-medal fishing, and family dining at Granby Ranch Grill. It's a true mountain playground, with chairlift access to thousands of acres of hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing trails.

National Sports Center for the Disabled

The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) is one of the largest outdoor therapeutic recreation and adaptive sports agencies in the world, based out of Winter Park Resort and Mile High Stadium in Colorado. The NSCD began in 1970 providing ski lessons for children with amputations for the Children’s Hospital of Denver. Each year more than 3,000 children and adults with disabilities participate in our programs to learn more about sports and themselves. With specially trained staff and volunteers, and its own adaptive equipment lab, the NSCD teaches a variety of year-round sports and activities to individuals with almost any physical, cognitive, emotional or behavioral diagnosis.

River Run RV Resort

River Run, a Signature Sun RV Resort, opening summer 2019 will provide visitors a new way to experience Colorado. Committed to providing guests with luxury amenities no matter how they choose to travel, River Run will offer a variety of unique lodging styles including furnished mountain cottages, glamping and camping accommodations and RV facilities. Situated in Granby along the headwaters of the Colorado River, in a valley below the Arapahoe National Forest and Rocky Mountain National Park this upscale mountain retreat offers unparalleled year-round access to the Northern Colorado Rockies. Guests will have access to a variety of on-site amenities to keep them entertained and well-fed, including fishing, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, mini-bowling, zero-entry pool, spa services, a tavern and events center and more set against spectacular views of the Continental Divide. The surrounding public lands provide opportunities to hike, bike, boat, fish and enjoy wildlife. Winter guests can enjoy nearby skiing and snowboarding as well as easy access to snowmobiling, ice-fishing, cross-country skiing and more.

The Broome Hut

Owned and operated by the Grand Huts Association, the Broome Hut, originally called the Second Creek Hut, in the Second Creek Basin on the west side of Berthoud Pass, Colorado is one of the finest high altitude skiing and hiking locales in Colorado. Ease of access and great skiing make for excellent backcountry recreation opportunities.

Layout and capacity: 2 bunk rooms with 6 beds each and 2 private rooms each of which sleeps 2. Capacity 16.

Additional Amenities: The Broome Hut has some unique amenities which include a pellet stove instead of a woodburning heat stove. It is very easy to operate and has clear instructions posted at the hut. The hut has indoor composting toilets similar to Janet's Cabin and Francie's Cabin. There is also a day-use room at the hut but it is totally separated from the overnight area and they share no amenities. Because of the popularity of the area for day-use you may encounter dogs along the trail and around the hut. But dogs are absolutely not allowed for overnight hut users and are not allowed anywhere inside the Hut.

The High Lonesome Hut

Andrew Miller grew up in his family’s ski lodge, where ski vacations meant staying in pine paneled rooms and eating family style at long tables. As a teenager he visited European huts, similar to cabins being built in the Colorado mountains. He began a search for a site for a cabin, finding the Lonesome Hut property in 1995. For the past 14 years, the cabin has hosted 23 blind skiers from England, several Middle Park High School science classes on overnight trips, a group of at risk teenage boys from the Lost and Found School in Denver who built a neat trail named after their school. Lonesome Hut LLC is now a group effort, my partners in this enterprise lend their energy to a refuge we hope you will enjoy. The High Lonesome Hut is located east of US 40 between Fraser and Tabernash, near Meadow Creek Reservoir, about 65 miles west of Denver and 15 minutes west of Winter Park. From US Hwy 40, drive County Road 83 to CR 84 to the Trailhead Parking area (4 miles). The trail to the hut is 2.5 miles long. A detailed map is included in your reservation packet.

Winter Park Resort

With a 75-year history, Winter Park Resort is Colorado's longest continually operated ski resort that features the Seven Territories across 3,081 acres of award-winning terrain. Winter Park Resort offers skiing, snowboarding, tubing, fat biking, and even more activities in the summer months, like biking, hiking and the alpine slide. Averaging over 320 inches of annual snowfall, 300 days of sunshine and located just 67 miles northwest of Denver, Winter Park Resort is the closest major destination resort to Denver International Airport and a favorite among the Denver locals who call this place their "home mountain".